Opportunities exist for W.Va. farms

West Virginia farmers have an opportunity to double food production within the next few years, Commissioner of Agriculture Walt Helmick told members of the Senate Finance Committee recently after he and others in his department visited North Carolina to study that state’s agricultural successes.

Helmick said he’d like to see this state’s farmers double production to $1 billion within the next few years. He said it would not only “increase employment, but also the tax base in our state.”

One way that Helmick suggests West Virginia enlarge its agricultural production is with so-called “non-traditional farming methods,” especially on some 150,000 acres of flat land throughout central and southern West Virginia.

Right now, West Virginia spends $7 billion on food but only produces only a small portion of that amount within the state.

North Carolina now produces $2.5 billion annually in its pork industry and employs thousands of people. But pork farm operations can no longer obtain permits there so they are looking to move to other states. So the pork farmers there are looking to move to other states.

Helmick wants to encourage those farmers to “come to West Virginia, look at developing in southern West Virginia and see if we can’t grow that industry here.” He said the idea that these operations create an odor is not true.

“It was astonishing,” Helmick said. “When you were at the hog growing houses … there was absolutely no odor at that site. There was odor where the waste was being applied to the land, but not at the grow-out site. They were capturing the methane from the waste and producing electricity. It’s very innovative.”

He would also like to see this state enlarge its vegetable production. The Department of Agriculture is planning a pilot project on 2,000 acres of farmland in Randolph County in a team effort with a horticulturist from West Virginia University.

Helmick said one potato distributor in West Virginia currently has three railroad boxcars of potatoes shipped here each week from Idaho. He said “everyone knows the Idaho brand because they’ve branded it and they’ve done well with it throughout the years.”

“Everybody knows the Idaho brand because they’ve branded it and they’ve done well with it throughout the years,” he said. “We don’t have to look outside West Virginia because we have a $6 billion opportunity.”

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Meanwhile, it was probably inevitable that members of the Legislature began talking about updating existing state laws on how to handle a chemical leak after one of these leaks tainted the public water supply in Charleston and parts of nine West Virginia counties a day after the current 60-day legislative session began earlier this month.

Senate Majority Leader John Unger, D-Berkeley, wants to amend the

State Water Resources Management Plan to reflect needed changes. Unger chairs the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on State Water Resources and said he has already talked to National Guard and state Department of Homeland Security officials about their ideas.

Sen. Unger said the incident was a “wakeup call” and could have been a lot worse than it was. He is also calling for an investigation of the spill but insists that probe isn’t intended to prosecute Freedom Industries, the company involved in the leak. He insists his concern is to determined exactly what happened with intentions of finding ways to keep it from happening again.

House Speaker Tim Miley, D-Harrison, isn’t as certain that any potential legislation that might be considered now. He said until state and local agencies present the findings of their own investigations, he believes it would be a bit premature to talk about passing new laws.

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Finally, the first eight days of the 2014 regular session of the Legislature were unusual, to say the least, because of the chemical spill that created a scarcity of drinkable water in Charleston and the surrounding area. Members of the House of Delegates and State Senate had to scramble to find hotel rooms because of the problem.

The House of Delegates met briefly last Monday afternoon-four days after about 7,500 gallons of a chemical leaked into the Elk River from a storage container-and then adjourned until 6 p.m. the following day. Less than half the 100 delegates were present for the Monday session. The Senate also met in a brief session last Monday afternoon as well and two bills were introduced. There was also a Senate Finance Committee meeting later that day to discuss the budget requested by the State Supreme Court of Appeals, and then the Senate began meeting for the floor session at its traditional time of 11 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 14.